Small group classes are simply a more efficient way to teach piano. This frees up a lot of time for the teacher. I used to do 30 minute lessons for 4 hours a day. That’s only 8 students. Now I see 32 students in those same 4 hour afternoons. If I just do 2 hours,…
Biggest Myth: Students learn better in private lessons. There are many reasons I gave up teaching private lessons but the reason I’ve stayed with group lessons for 20 years now is because I have seen that lessons in small groups clearly result in better growth and development. This completely busts the myth that private lessons…
What is the upfront cost of teaching in small groups? There are 2 upfront costs when you begin teaching in small groups. The biggest one is not a financial burden but a very different approach to preparing to teach your piano lessons. Let me explain. When I used to teach private lessons, I never kept…
Can you teach piano lessons during school hours? Once my small group classes incorporated more of my after-school wait list for piano lessons, I went and found Home and Charter schools to teach for during the day. This was a hard system to figure out 20 years ago but it is super simple now. 20 years…
How Piano Teachers Can Beat the Clock A new competition for Piano Lessons has begun but not between teachers or students, it’s a race against the clock. Have you heard about new laws passed that require school classes to begin later thereby shortening the after-school hours for activities? This reduces the average piano teacher’s work…
Love is the biggest part of this story Brook has come for lessons on Wednesday afternoons since she was little. She’s a freshman in high school now, so I’ve come to love her dearly. What touches me most is how she’s taken our community service on the piano (with the music she can play) to a…
How to Help the Shy One in Class Saraya is one of the quiet girls in my Tuesday 4:00pm class. She’s naturally shy but she’s got a lot going on. When I challenge her, she always rises to the occasion. The last months of school she got quite buried in her AP classes and exams,…
Watching them bring the joy to class… Today was a really fun day in piano class. One of our beginners has been working on accidentals. I suggested he try the opening song from Harry Potter called Hedwig’s theme and his eyes almost popped. He loves Harry Potter. He’d been talking the week before about jumping…
How to help your students become independent learners. I was handicapping my students When I only taught private lessons, I found joy in seeing my students develop and do a good job of playing their music. But I also found something that detoured my students from reaching their full potential. It was me. I was…
How to Convert Your Studio From Private to Small Group Classes 20 students for 12 It typically takes 20 students to fill 12 class spots. I know, that math doesn’t add up, but it takes far more than 12 students to make up 4 classes. It’s a challenge to learn what is the ideal class. …